In the digital age, many habits change or disappear to make room of new ones. One of the habits that has changed significantly with digital innovations is the way we read books, newspapers and magazines. Once available only in paper form, they are now increasingly offered in digital form. It is therefore fair to ask what the point of subscribing to paper magazines is now.
The rise of digital magazines
The digital press has experienced a meteoric rise over the past decade. Almost all the popular magazines that exist in paper form are now available in digital form on numerous websites. These platforms, such as Jemabonne.fr, are real online kiosks that offer you the opportunity to subscribe to all kinds of magazines, both in print and digital form, with just a few clicks. Whether it’s a women’s magazine, a celebrity magazine, a news magazine or a children’s magazine, digital reading can be done from a computer, a tablet or even on a mobile phone. Many e-readers have also been developed to make reading digital magazines more convenient. These e-readers are virtual libraries that allow you to organise your magazines and books.
Whether in PDF, EPUB or live reading, sales of digital magazines continue to grow. At the same time, subscriptions to paper magazines are declining significantly. This rise in digital reading is due to the many advantages it offers. Indeed, opting for digital magazines means you can get them anywhere and at any time. You no longer have to go to a newsagent to buy your favourite magazines. With digital media, you can take all your magazines with you wherever you go. No more risk of losing or damaging them. And compared to paper magazines, digital versions cost less.
Subscribing to digital magazines has also proved to be a practical solution for continuing to read weekly magazines despite travel limitations during the Covid-19 pandemic. Many paper magazines that are out of stock at newsstands can be easily found online on websites or via e-readers. They also have a considerable advantage in terms of environmental conservation. They avoid cutting down a number of trees for the production of paper magazines. Just like the choice of second-hand books, opting for a digital magazine is a more environmentally friendly alternative that many readers take seriously. However, despite all these advantages of digital magazines, subscribing to paper magazines is far from being out of fashion.
Why continue to subscribe to paper magazines ?
A large proportion of readers remain attached to paper magazines. They regularly take out a subscription to receive their favourite paper magazines at home. They prefer the contact with glossy paper to the lack of sensation of dematerialised versions. In addition, many old practices, such as cutting out and collecting celebrity posters, are not possible with digital magazines. It would also be very expensive to replace the paper magazines that adorn waiting rooms with digital versions on tablets. The A4 format of paper magazines also makes for more comfortable reading, especially for people with visual impairments. It is more convenient than the numerous zoom settings that are necessary on tablets.
Subscribing to and reading paper magazines gives a certain style, an upscale image. This is one reason why many people have a passion for collecting paper magazines. These magazines usually increase in value over the years, especially if they are a special issue, for example. It must also be said that digital magazines have unbearable drawbacks for purists. One of these is the lack of concentration when reading a magazine on a computer or tablet. You can quickly be distracted by notifications, pop-up windows and other unwanted advertisements on online reading platforms. Paper magazine readers don’t have this problem, as the magazine has special sections dedicated to advertising, which they can choose to read or not.
Let’s not forget the links to other pages that are often inadvertently clicked on when reading a digital magazine. This lack of concentration when reading a digital magazine does not allow for good retention of information. A study called “Medium Matters: Newsreaders Recall and Engagement With Online and Print Newspapers” by researchers at the University of Oregon found that readers of print magazines retained more information than those of digital versions. Finally, if there is a problem with the storage on which your digital magazines are stored, you may lose your entire collection and have to buy them again.
Subscribing to magazines, whether in print or digital form, allows you to be informed and entertained wherever you want. Even if the trend is more towards digital versions, there is still a lot to be said for paper magazines.
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